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Neonatology fellow assessment and evaluation: embracing the word salad of CBME, EPAs, and milestones

Journal of Perinatology volume 45, pages 572–579 (2025)Cite this article

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Abstract

Neonatal-perinatal medicine (NPM) fellowship training aims to educate fellows and enable them to move into successful independent neonatal practice. To reach this goal, every fellow must acquire a wide range of clinical, scholarly, and professional skills that require assessment and evaluation by the fellowship program. The assessment and evaluation of fellow progression and promotion must rely on a rigorous educational framework. The goal of this article is to illustrate the process of NPM fellow assessment and evaluation, introduce the educational framework utilized, describe challenges inherent to the process, and discuss opportunities to improve how NPM fellows are evaluated.

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Acknowledgements

We are grateful to David A. Turner MD for his leadership of the ABP NPM EPA to Milestones 2.0 mapping project, his willingness to provide insightful feedback on this manuscript and for his commitment to partnering with the NPM fellowship PDs to further the development of NPM fellow training.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Pediatrics, University of Nebraska Medical Center, Omaha, NE, USA

    Courtney McLean

  2. Department of Pediatrics, Rush University Medical Center, Chicago, IL, USA

    Beverley Robin

  3. Department of Pediatrics, University of Minnesota Medical School, Minneapolis, MN, USA

    Johannah M. Scheurer

  4. Department of Pediatrics, Medical College of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, WI, USA

    Kathryn E. K. Berlin

  5. Department of Pediatrics, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA

    Megan M. Gray

  6. Department of Pediatrics, University of Vermont, Burlington, VT, USA

    Deirdre O’Reilly

  7. Department of Pediatrics, Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, USA

    Heather French

  8. Department of Pediatrics, University of Texas Health San Antonio, San Antonio, TX, USA

    Margarita M. Vasquez

  9. Department of Pediatrics, Boston University School of Medicine, Boston, MA, USA

    Mark Castera

  10. Department of Pediatrics, Women and Infants’ Hospital, Providence, RI, USA

    Katherine M. Redford

  11. Department of Pediatrics, Yale School of Medicine, New Haven, CT, USA

    Lindsay C. Johnston

  12. Department of Pediatrics, Northwestern University, Chicago, IL, USA

    Patrick J. Myers

Authors
  1. Courtney McLean
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  2. Beverley Robin
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  3. Johannah M. Scheurer
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  4. Kathryn E. K. Berlin
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  5. Megan M. Gray
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  6. Deirdre O’Reilly
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  7. Heather French
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  8. Margarita M. Vasquez
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  9. Mark Castera
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  10. Katherine M. Redford
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  11. Lindsay C. Johnston
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  12. Patrick J. Myers
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Contributions

CM – Drafted the first text, created all tables and figures, helped with study design and implementation and edited the final manuscript. BR – Contributed to the initial conception of the paper, helped with the initial creation of tables and figures, helped with study design and implementation and edited the final manuscript. JS – Contributed to the initial conception of the paper, helped with the initial creation of tables and figures, helped with study design and implementation and edited the final manuscript. KB – Contributed to the initial conception of the paper, helped with study design and implementation and edited the final manuscript. MG – Contributed to the initial conception of the paper, helped with study design and implementation and edited the final manuscript DO – Contributed to the initial conception of the paper, helped with study design and implementation and edited the final manuscript. HF - Contributed to the initial conception of the paper, helped with study design and implementation and edited the final manuscript. MV – Contributed to the initial conception of the paper, helped with study design and implementation and edited the final manuscript. MC – Contributed to the initial conception of the paper, helped with study design and implementation and edited the final manuscript. KR – Contributed to the initial conception of the paper, helped with study design and implementation and edited the final manuscript. LJ – Contributed to the initial conception of the paper, helped with study design and implementation and edited the final manuscript. PM – Contributed to the initial conception and writing of the paper, helped with the initial creation of tables and figures, helped with study design and implementation and coordinate the final edits to the manuscript.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Patrick J. Myers.

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McLean, C., Robin, B., Scheurer, J.M. et al. Neonatology fellow assessment and evaluation: embracing the word salad of CBME, EPAs, and milestones. J Perinatol 45, 572–579 (2025). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41372-024-02208-7

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41372-024-02208-7

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